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The reinvented event marks a full-circle moment for Gomes, who originally launched the series years ago on the warehouse floor of Catalina Offshore Products, where he served as resident fishmonger for more than a decade. Billed as “Cook, Eat, and Give,” Collaboration Kitchen has always been about more than dinner.
The interactive, multi-course seafood experience pairs Gomes with a rotating lineup of local chefs for a live cooking demonstration and communal feast, with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting youth-focused nonprofits throughout San Diego. The March 9 return event will support Youth Assistance Coalition.
The revived Collaboration Kitchen will take place on Monday, March 9, co-hosted by Gomes alongside Chef Jeff Rossman of Terra American Bistro Catering, and will take place inside Tunaville Market & Grocery along the marina Bayfront in Driscoll's Wharf. Guests can expect a multi-course dinner, storytelling from the docks, beverages, and the kind of unscripted culinary theater that defined the series in its early years. VIP tickets are currently listed at $150 plus service fees.
The revived Collaboration Kitchen will take place on Monday, March 9, co-hosted by Gomes alongside Chef Jeff Rossman of Terra American Bistro Catering, and will take place inside Tunaville Market & Grocery along the marina Bayfront in Driscoll's Wharf. Guests can expect a multi-course dinner, storytelling from the docks, beverages, and the kind of unscripted culinary theater that defined the series in its early years. VIP tickets are currently listed at $150 plus service fees.
The original Collaboration Kitchen began more than a decade ago after, as legend has it, Gomes took a bet that he couldn’t pull off a large-scale cooking event inside a working seafood warehouse. The result became one of San Diego’s most unique dining experiences. Roughly 100 guests would gather among lobster tanks and freezer rooms at Catalina Offshore Products for a six- or seven-course meal prepared by some of the region’s top chefs. The atmosphere was part seafood seminar, part dinner party, part fundraiser.
Over the years, featured chefs included leaders from across San Diego’s culinary scene, with menus highlighting everything from Baja shrimp and opah to crab, yellowtail collars, and oysters grilled dockside. Guests often toured the facility, watched whole fish breakdowns, sampled sashimi sliced on the spot, and engaged in lively Q&A sessions about sustainable sourcing and local fisheries. Proceeds supported organizations such as Monarch School for homeless youth and San Diego Youth Services.
For Gomes, the return of Collaboration Kitchen to Tunaville carries added significance. After stepping away from his public-facing role at Catalina Offshore in 2019, the fourth-generation San Diego fishmonger built his own brand, launched the Outdoor Channel reality series The Fishmonger (which is about to air Season 6), and partnered with Mitch’s Seafood founder Mitch Conniff to open Tunaville Market & Grocery in 2022. The market was designed as a dock-to-consumer seafood hub, showcasing local commercial fishermen and honoring Point Loma’s historic identity as “Tunaville,” once home to one of the world’s largest tuna fleets.
Bringing Collaboration Kitchen into Tunaville effectively plants the charitable series inside Gomes’ own ecosystem, a harbor-front space where boats unload steps away and the public can see seafood move from dock to display case. It also reinforces Gomes’ long-running mission of seafood education and community engagement, themes that have defined both his television career and his work on the docks.
Unlike traditional restaurant pop-ups, Collaboration Kitchen remains intentionally interactive. Demonstrations unfold in real time, chefs field questions mid-prep, and Gomes frequently pivots to impromptu fish breakdowns or sustainability lessons between courses. The tone is equal parts storytelling and advocacy, with a focus on respecting the catch and the fishermen behind it.
Over the years, featured chefs included leaders from across San Diego’s culinary scene, with menus highlighting everything from Baja shrimp and opah to crab, yellowtail collars, and oysters grilled dockside. Guests often toured the facility, watched whole fish breakdowns, sampled sashimi sliced on the spot, and engaged in lively Q&A sessions about sustainable sourcing and local fisheries. Proceeds supported organizations such as Monarch School for homeless youth and San Diego Youth Services.
For Gomes, the return of Collaboration Kitchen to Tunaville carries added significance. After stepping away from his public-facing role at Catalina Offshore in 2019, the fourth-generation San Diego fishmonger built his own brand, launched the Outdoor Channel reality series The Fishmonger (which is about to air Season 6), and partnered with Mitch’s Seafood founder Mitch Conniff to open Tunaville Market & Grocery in 2022. The market was designed as a dock-to-consumer seafood hub, showcasing local commercial fishermen and honoring Point Loma’s historic identity as “Tunaville,” once home to one of the world’s largest tuna fleets.
Bringing Collaboration Kitchen into Tunaville effectively plants the charitable series inside Gomes’ own ecosystem, a harbor-front space where boats unload steps away and the public can see seafood move from dock to display case. It also reinforces Gomes’ long-running mission of seafood education and community engagement, themes that have defined both his television career and his work on the docks.
Unlike traditional restaurant pop-ups, Collaboration Kitchen remains intentionally interactive. Demonstrations unfold in real time, chefs field questions mid-prep, and Gomes frequently pivots to impromptu fish breakdowns or sustainability lessons between courses. The tone is equal parts storytelling and advocacy, with a focus on respecting the catch and the fishermen behind it.
The March 9 event runs from 6-9pm at Tunaville Market & Grocery in Point Loma. Tickets are available through the event page, and given the series’ history of selling out quickly, early purchase is recommended.
For San Diego seafood fans, the return of Collaboration Kitchen is more than a dinner announcement, it’s the revival of a waterfront tradition that blends education, entertainment, and philanthropy in a way only Tommy Gomes can pull off.
Tunaville Market & Grocery is located at 4904 North Harbor Drive, Suite 102, in San Diego's Point Loma. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the event page online and follow
Originally published on February 28, 2026.
For San Diego seafood fans, the return of Collaboration Kitchen is more than a dinner announcement, it’s the revival of a waterfront tradition that blends education, entertainment, and philanthropy in a way only Tommy Gomes can pull off.
Tunaville Market & Grocery is located at 4904 North Harbor Drive, Suite 102, in San Diego's Point Loma. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the event page online and follow
Originally published on February 28, 2026.
